Work Text:
~~~
Quiet.
Thats what it was.
Leaning back into a plush chair in his shared apartment, Shinei Nouzen, former combat commander of the Eighty Six Strike Package, found himself buried in silence.
Not total silence, but… casual silence.
The Legion war had long since passed. The voices of the dead no longer flooding his mind, combat briefings and missions no longer dominated his life. Technically speaking, he’s retired. Such an odd phrase to use… he never thought he’d see his twenties. Never mind being retired from combat, in the sense that didn’t involve him dying, before hitting the age of thirty…
Heck…
He wasn’t even in his mid-twenties yet.
And yet? Retired all the same. Full benefits too, something about being what can be regarded as a war hero would do that for you.
And the best part?
He didn’t mind. Because that meant he got to spend more time with his fiancee Lena.
The minute the war ended?
He popped the question. She said yes.
And he couldn’t be happier.
So why was he sitting alone in silence?
Because he may have retired, but Lena? Was another story altogether.
His part in the story had come to a close. A war hero requires a war. Lena became a symbol. Partly by choice, partly by accident. The first voice of the Alba that raged against the Republics treatment of the Eighty Six. The Republic wiped away by the war, yet its citizens remained.
With the war now over?
Rebuilding could occur.
Lena taking up the lead, ensuring that the Republic returns in the way it was meant to be. Not another shade of its darker past the war created… or perhaps exposed.
Building a nation required time.
Lots of it.
Which meant…
Shin had too much time on his hands.
Which led to a separate problem.
He was too used to war. He didn’t love it or anything, he wasn’t addicted to it. But he was used to it. The noise, the busy hands, the mental planning. The time investment.
And now?
All that time was handed back.
Somehow he managed to plan out the wedding thrice over. That managed to occupy his time for a couple weeks as he made adjustments, went over guest lists and all sorts of other plans…
But then a problem occurred.
It felt… wrong. Because he did it alone. That wedding was Lena’s wedding too! So he kept some parts, and planned out the rest with Lena.
Or…
Tried to.
Her schedule…
Was pretty packed.
Thankfully!
He had his trusty friend Fido with him to keep him company in these trying times. Keeps him from planning the wedding all over again for the… fourth time now maybe?
Fido was now in a… domestic form. Rather than his old ten ton M101 Barrett form meant to reload and assist Feldress on the battlefield
That of a medium sized dog now, Shin wasn’t too sure about the breed. Big enough to still establish dominance over TP like before! Small enough that he wouldn’t… crush TP
But even now?
Fido joins his master in despair.
Because Lena took TP with her…
“Wonder what she’s up to right now…”
Shin sighed to himself, knocking his head into a wall as he spoke… par for the course. His brain likes to sh it off when Lena isn’t around…
~~~
Meanwhile
~~~
“I AM GOING TO FUCKING CUT YOU—!”
Lena was not having a good time.
She was having the opposite of a good time.
If a good time was a scale? She was at the exact tippy edge of the wrong end of it
These MOTHERFUCKERS keep sliding her MORE AND MORE PAPERWORK. Filled with the more stupid suggestions and legislation IMAGINABLE.
And they are KEEPING HER FROM HER SHIN.
She just got done with this BULLSHIT WAR and wants to spend some quality time with HER MAN but NOOOOOO
Everyone suddenly forgot to proofread their work! And now she’s the one dealing with it! Because of course she’s the only one that managed to hang onto her brain once the guns when silent!
She would’ve introduced everyone present to “Bloody Regina” if TP wasn’t here… but the more and more these MORONS try to one-up the dunces back in the Republic days?
It becomes more and more tempting…
Ernst managed to get away with beating a few of the Bleachers to death in his house right? She could do that. It was basically community service right?
“And about your… pet pig—“
“CALL SHIN A PET ONE MORE FUCKING TIME AND I WILL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH AND FEED YOU TO YOUR CHILDREN!!”
You think they’d learn their lesson after Ernst introduced their leaders brains to fresh air…
~~~
“You think she’s doing something important? She’s probably doing something important right?”
Shin, blissfully unaware that his fiancee was mentally loading a rifle at this point, asked his robotic canine companion. His face blank as per usual…
But Fido knew better.
The despair was present.
And all he could do was nuzzle the leg of his master and hope that Lena return soon enough… with TP.
“Just me and you Fido… like the old days… can’t really call them the good old days though…”
Fido hummed out a reply, too weak to give his signature “Pi!” In response.
Yeah… being a depressed, half suicidal eleven year old constantly watching squad mates die, listening to the voice of your dead older brother and cuddling up to a ten ton machine isn’t exactly what Shin would describe as “good”
But they certainly were the old days.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The clock went on.
And the quiet drew out more and more.
Unbearably so.
Who knew that silence would be this overwhelming? Shin knew the exact opposite of silence for so long. Even as he slept, he would hear the screaming of the Legion. The voices of the dead. Calling out in fear, hatred, anger, sadness, over and over again. He could hear them come closer, move further away, quiet down as they entered stand-by more, grow louder as they reentered activity.
But now?
Nothing.
Even in the past few months, the war gone, thus the voices of the Legion, there was still noise. Press conferences that he hated, noisy reporters, drinks with other Eighty-Six, slow dances with Lena…
Dinner with Lena…
Dates with Lena…
Walks with Lena…
Quality time with Lena…
Proposing to Lena…
Lena saying yes…
Just…
Lena being Lena.
“I’m… pathetic”
Shin finally realized his situation, causing the robotic frame of Fido to perk up, tilting that newly created canine head of his. Still sparkling chrome, fresh off the assembly line.
Vika’s design.
Helped his case for not dying via shovel after the whole Cicada incident.
“Hah… Guess they weren’t kidding when they said I suffered from Lena deficiency… ain’t that right Fido? Though… I guess you’re recovering from TP deficiency aren’t you boy?”
Shin snickered, only to realize that was probably the first time since childhood he did such a thing. Thank goodness no one was here to see that… Least of all Theo…
Thought.
Toward his topic at hand? That being Fido being needy for someone that wasn’t him? Shin could understand his predicament to a degree. Years of being too big and heavy to actually play with anyone or anything, any and all “games” Fido could perform in? Were basically just… “dodge the charging ten ton robot before you’re turned into fine mist”
But now?
Fido could actually play.
And he’s being robbed of it.
Just like how Shin had happiness. Casual, domestic happiness. And he was being robbed of it.
Seriously she told him this meeting wasn’t meant to go on for that long. Must’ve been really important for her to put in that kind of overtime. Maybe taking a big stride with making sure the Republic comes back stronger and kinder…
“Yeah… definitely like Lena… always putting in the extra effort to make sure things go well… just like how she was back in the 86th district… just like back when we met… always so kind”
He smiled at that, reaching down and petting Fido, his gaze turning toward the door…
“Still… really want to see her soon though…”
~~~
“I AM TELLING YOU ONE LAST FUCKING TIME!! NO!! WE ARE NOT RESTORING THE PROVISIONS THAT LED TO THAT WHOLE DEAL!! I DON’T CARE IF IT HELPED WITH AN ECONOMIC CRISIS TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, EMERGENCY LEGISLATION THAT POWERFUL RESULTED IN THE EIGHTY-SIXTH DISTRICT”
Lena.
Really wanted to draw her gun right about now.
“B-But we would be in massive debt! We would be paying—“
“GOOD!! HALF OF YOU FUCKERS DESERVE TO BE HANGING FROM NOOSES”
Even TP was starting to get tired of this.
Scratching a poor aide that wanted to pet the cat for emotional reassurance after Lena pistol whipped the former Republic official from before, whom in fact, did not take Lena’s threat seriously and continued to insult Shin.
His body is still on the floor.
His teeth still on the other side of the room.
“You know what? No. No I’m FUCKING done. All of you fucks? Are not leaving this room until you fix these plans, take out all the BULLSHIT, and act like civilized adults… I am going to see my fiancee! And when I’m back tomorrow…?”
Lena trailed off, walking to pick up TP’s carrier, deliberately kicking the fallen officials face as she walked.
“These plans better be SPOTLESS! If not? Well… I suppose I’ll just have to free your bodies of their kneecaps… sound good?”
She finished, flashing her trademark smile… with a new, rarely seen murderous edge to it as she made her exist.
When the doors shut?
All the cowards in the room finally found the willpower to actually respond.
“YES MA’AM—!”
~~~
“Yeah she’s totally doing something important. Something world changing. That’s Lena’s for you! Certainly… certainly changed MY world”
Shin had to wonder…
Why was he so emotionally honest when no one was around?
“Pi!”
Fido, after a lengthy period of silence and hums, finally decided to reply. Seems that Shin no longer sulking in silence about the whole situation finally managed to get the little bot to cheer up!
“Okay… okay okay… what’s the longest period I’ve been without Lena? After meeting her? Uh… two years in the Federacy… hm…”
He looked to Fido once that came to his head. Fido, for his part, read his mind, immediately shaking that short snout of his in the gesture of “no”. Though? If Fido had a voice? Shin would assume that the actual term was “fuck no”.
Yeah he was a mess…
Couple that with his reason to live to that point, killing Rei, had now be concluded?
He was a ghost looking for a grave.
Now? After all this time with Lena? He would never make it THAT far. Probably would fall into a coma long before that came to pass.
“Pi!”
“Yeah yeah I get the point… alright what else? Well… had about… two weeks apart after that? After we started dating? Was pretty bad there… then again… probably because I wasn’t able to call her… thinks felt a lot better once Kurena forced me to call her… still…”
He sighed, leaning back as he pet Fido.
“Went back to being a moron after that. Probably rivaled Shiden in the moron world-cup in that regard… but… one call and it was all fine…”
Shin huffed, rubbing his face, hoping that all the talking he’d been doing would do something about the silence. Or, even better, would make Lena suddenly appear in front of him.
Oh god…
He was too far gone, wasn’t he?
…
At least he was already getting married to her… yeah… it’s not bad to be this pathetic for someone you’re already engaged to, right?
Oh…
What he would give to hear that silver bell voice right about now… even if she was just venting about her day… how tough it was… or how much progress they were making…
Anything would do really!
Is… is that what they meant when they spoke about addiction?
Can’t be it.
Lena is too sweet to have such a negative label like addiction attached to her…
“Fido…? What the hell happened… Grim Reaper of the Eastern Front… and now this?”
Shin huffed, eyes turning to face the robotic dog. Whom Shin could only assume gave his version of a shrug, tilting his head and spinning in a little circle before setting down again.
“What did she do to me… and why did it feel some damn right…”
Shin went on, eyes turning toward the ceiling as he let out one long exhale. He didn’t even move from the chair he was in.
He didn’t even remember sitting down in the first place, heck he knew that he’s been here for a while yet didn’t remember even moving from the door.
Thank god he did move from the door though…
Now that? That would’ve been pathetic. Her fiancée? Standing at the door? Like a lost puppy waiting for his master to come home?
Worst part?
Lena wouldn’t be against it.
Sure she would tease him. Tease him a lot actually.
But as he recalled from the “Lena Deficiency” incident those years back? She wouldn’t be against it. Likely find it cute.
That?
That was the worst part. Because he’d like it if she found it cute…
Another sigh.
. . .
And now he was on the floor.
Still staring at the ceiling.
“God I’m pathetic…”
“Pi! Pi!”
“Yeah thanks for the advice on that one Fido, wouldn’t know what to do without you…”
Silence.
Quiet. More quiet…
And still no Lena…
Hmmm…
It worked out last time he did this.
Even if it was the peak of pathetic.
But it worked. It did work.
And honestly?
Something that worked was what he needed right now. Scratch that, he needed it hours ago.
. . .
. . .
“I want… I want to see Lena…”
. . .
. . .
Nothing.
More silence.
More quiet.
Shin supposed…
That lightning didn’t strike twice.
Either that or Kurena and Anju weren’t around to force his hand and make him call her...
It was probably the latter.
But Shin knew he had too much pride to admit it.
. . .
. . .
“I wanna see Lenaaaaaaaaa—“
SLAM!
The door.
It was the door.
It was kicked open.
Shin could tell that much.
Was someone breaking in??
“SHIN GET YOUR FUCKING ASS IN THE BED!! I NEED SOME CUDDLES AND I NEED THEM NOW!! WHERE ARE YOU!?”
Oh.
Oh it worked!
Lena’s home!
The next few minutes were a blur.
A VERY aggressive and angry Lena basically grabbed him off the floor with strength that he DID NOT know had existed beforehand, dragged his ass across the apartment as TP and Fido ran off together toward the living room, and THREW him into the bedroom.
In a sudden twist?
Lena was in her pyjamas faster than he could rip the turret off a Lowe. Instantly forming a cocoon of bedsheets around the two of them. Latching onto his chest like some twisted form of baby koala.
Not a single word was said after her initial outburst… yet?
Shin did not care one bit.
Lena… was here. And in his favourite spot too! Wrapped around his chest!
. . .
Shin would never admit this… not out loud at least.
But he wanted this to happen HOURS ago.
~~~